Page 84 of Billionaire’s Heartbreak

He opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him speak. “Didn’t you tell me you had the best security team in the world?” I stood. “Surely a little bunker can’t possibly be beyond your security expertise.”

He watched me quietly.

“I bet you have a catalogue for these things.” My voice became more animated as I continued. “Custom-built. State-of-the-art. Whatever you want. You probably had someone sit down with you and explain every possible feature.” I pointed toward the walls.

His mouth twitched.

I glared at him. “Don’t.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were going to.”

He raised both hands slightly in surrender.

I was breathing harder now, my chest tight. “Your bunker probably has everything.”

My voice cracked. I finally realised how loud I’d become, how close I was to crying again, and turned away. For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then Kai nodded slowly.

“I'm sorry.” His voice was quieter this time. There was no sarcasm, no argument, no attempt to defend himself. Just two words.

I stared at him, almost certain I'd heard him wrong. “You're sorry?”

He nodded. “It must have been scary for you.” He paused, his eyes dropping briefly before returning to mine. “Being stuck here with me.”

Tears escaped my eyes again, and I hated myself for it. I felt weak. Out of control. Like I'd somehow failed at being the calm, rational person I was supposed to be.

“You have no idea.”

Fear had wrecked me in ways I hadn't known it could. “I thought you were going to die.” My lips trembled. “Do you know I haven't been able to sleep? Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is that kid cutting you down. And then you just had to lie there like a rock, making me check whether you were breathing, whether you still had a pulse…”

My voice broke. “I must have checked you a hundred times.”

Kai didn't say anything.

“And not one of those times was easy. Every time I touched your neck, I wondered if you'd finally stopped fighting. If I'd find nothing.” I swallowed hard, my chest tightening. “And then what? I'd be stuck here alone? I'd probably starve to death before anyone found me. Or maybe I'd do something stupid before that. I don't know.”

A strange sound escaped him. It might have been a laugh.

Before I could decide whether to be offended, his arms came around me. I barely noticed him moving. One second I was sitting in the armchair, and the next I was against his chest, his warmth surrounding me.

“Shhh…” He repeated it softly, rubbing my back. “At least if I had died, I'd have died in your arms.” He gave me a weak smile. “And happy.”

I pulled back slightly. “What?”

He looked at me with an expression almost too gentle for the man I'd spent years fighting with. “You heard me?”

I stopped. How had he known? The crying. The things I'd whispered to him. The moments when I'd held his hand and talked to him because I couldn't stand the silence.

“Every word.”

Heat rushed into my face. I'd said so many things. Things I might have meant. Things I might not have. Things that could have been fear talking. Exhaustion. Loneliness. Three days of barely sleeping while watching the man I used to love fight for his life.

I opened my mouth to defend myself, then closed it. There was no point.

“But right now, it's not time to argue.”